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CalCatDoc, Veterinarian

Category: Cat

Satisfied Customers: 277

Experience: I'm a veterinarian specializing in cats and have owned cats for 35 years. I love all things feline!

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My cat when trying to vomit, just ends up puking clear liquid,

Customer Question

My cat when trying to vomit, just ends up puking clear liquid, then he goes down like fainting and then stiffens up. I let him lie there while I keep petting and talking to him, then after a minute or so he gets up, a little confused and shakes it off. this has happened a couple of times in the last month or so. I have had his blood work done and an ultrasound which all came back fine. I am very concerned.

Does he do this every time he vomits, or does he vomit other times and not react like this?

Customer:

He vomits other times with normal stuff coming out and doesn't go faint. The fainting only happens when he tries to vomit, but only clear liquid comes out.

CalCatDoc :

What blood tests did they do on his panel? If you have the name of the lab and the name of the panel it might help. Also, did they do a urinalysis too?

Customer:

Not sure of the blood test. The vet did what she thought was right for this problem. Same with the ultrasound, but no urinalysis.

CalCatDoc :

Urinalysis is very important to rule out certain problems since he is older. How often does he vomit?

Customer:

The normal one, about once a week. the clear liquid one is looking like once a month.

CalCatDoc :

Is he strictly indoors? Any other pets or small children in the home?

Customer:

strictly indoors, no other pets or children in the house

CalCatDoc :

What brand and flavors of dry food do you feed? What beand and flavors of canned food (if any)? Do you give him any people food, scraps, cat treats? Does he chew on any houseplants?

Customer:

I have a bowl of Friskies dry food always full and I give him a small can of wet( fancy feast classic, which is what I have been giving him since I got him) in the am and pm. Dry treats once a day and I have cat grass for him sometimes.

CalCatDoc :

BRB have a phone call

CalCatDoc :

Don't go away

Customer:

ok

CalCatDoc :

back

Customer:

me too.

CalCatDoc :

I am puzzled by why he is collapsing when he vomits sometimes, but he may just be in pain when it happens. I do think there are some issues we can address with his dietary plan that might help with the overall vomiting problem and therefore help this weird overreaction.

Customer:

yea, didn't get much from the vet either about this. Why the clear liquid instead of normal stuff.

CalCatDoc :

I always advise against giving cats "cat grass" because it is very abrasive and irritating to the throat and GI tract and actually CAUSES unnecessary vomiting. Contrary to popular belief, cats do not benefit in any known way from eating indigestible plant material. If you discontinue this, he may very well stop vomiting altogether or do it a lot less, and the extreme negative reaction may also cease. The only way to know is just to do it. Regarding what he eats........

CalCatDoc :

Do you feed him any foods with fish in it?

Customer:

no, only on type Fancy Feast seafood medley

CalCatDoc :

Well that does have fish.

Customer:

He gets that maybe once a week.

CalCatDoc :

And much of the Friskies dry does, but they have varieties that don't also. You have to read the microscopic ingredients list to find out. The reason I am asking about fish is................

CalCatDoc :

Cats are direct descendants of Felis libyca, the desert wildcat of North Africa, the Negev Desert, and the Arabian Peninsula. They did not evolve with any fish at all in their diet, and the very brief period we have been domesticating them is not enough to change their basic biology. I see huge numbers of cats that get GI, urinary, and skin problems from fish (and that resolve when it is permanently discontinued). So in any case of chronic vomiting, it's important to avoid fish because there is no "test" for this, you just have to try it. Cats with chronic vomiting and/or diarrhea and/or poor appetite/weight loss often have Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and because fish is the most common food allergen in cats, it seems to be linked to many of these cases.

Customer:

interesting..

CalCatDoc :

So before I go suggesting that you take him to an internist for endoscopy and biopsy, it makes much more sense to remove all fish from his diet and observe over time for improvement. And if endoscopy is beyond your budget, most vets are willing to presume the diagnosis of IBD and do a therapeutic trial of prednisolone with or without metronidazole (if diet alone doesn't do the trick).

Customer:

So am I okay with the Fancy feast, but no fish or should I try a different brand?

CalCatDoc :

Consuming fish or any other food allergen even intermittently can set up chronic infoammation, so that the symptoms are not necessarily on the days when he eats the thing that is causing the problem.

CalCatDoc :

Fancy Feast canned CLASSIC STYLE has 5 varieties that have no fish - turkey & giblets, chicken, beef, and two others I forget the names of. Take your handlens to the store to check the ingredients list, lol, because they are very hard to read. And fish OIL is fine, it's not the problem. As far as dry food goes, your vet probably carries Hill's Prescription Diet I/D (it also comes in canned which he might like). Pet stores carry Science Diet Sensitive Stomach which has also helped many of my patients. We try to manage the problem as much as possible with diet, and then if meds are needed then we add them on.

Customer:

ok, the ones you describe is what I feed him now, but i'll look into a different dry food, preferable Science Diet.

CalCatDoc :

And no more kitty grass for him. I hope this has been helpful. Be sure to bookmark this page for easy return if you have any more questions for me about this.

CalCatDoc :

But if it continues, I would seriously consider endoscopy.

Customer:

Yep, will go home and throw away the kitty grass. All makes sense to me.. Diet is always important to people, so why not cats.

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